Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Chase hopes came to an end at Talladega Superspeedway. However, he’s still won a race since then and can have a huge impact on who ultimately wins the Sprint Cup championship this Sunday.

How big of an impact does he hope to be on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway? If he has the shot, Junior said he’ll block for teammate Jeff Gordon to win the title in his final race.

“Yeah, I would block,” Earnhardt said on the Dan Patrick Show. “And I’ll race those other guys very, very hard when I’m around them. Those other three competitors are going to get some hard competition from me and any of the other teammates that are out there.”

Drivers don’t typically have rooting interests outside of themselves, but Junior certainly has reason to cheer for half the field in the championship race.

Gordon is of course his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and he’s said he’ll be a “company man.” But if Gordon isn’t in position at the end of the race, he’ll likely block for Martin Truex Jr. — his former teammate at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and close friend.

If he’s not blocking for Jeff Gordon at the end, expect Dale Earnhardt Jr. to race hard to help out Martin Truex Jr. Image courtesy of @DaleJr.

“It’s hard to pick one guy because they’re all kind of showing good speed right now,” Earnhardt said. “I’m obviously going to pull for my teammate, Jeff Gordon, because I want boss man to be happy and that would be a hell of a way to go out.

“He’s been racing for 20-some years now and still has the ability to go out and win races and battle for championships to the very end. What a storybook ending that would be if he got the championship.”

While he’ll look to help the No. 24 and No. 78, Earnhardt also believes he has a winning car for Miami. Bringing the same machine from Texas, Junior told reporters on Sunday, “I’m going to win that race if I have a car like I did at Texas.”

A 1-2 finish for Earnhardt and Gordon in Jeff’s last ride? Gordon hoisting the Cup championship with Junior in Victory Lane? That, my friends, is what Rick Hendrick’s dreams are made of.